SLOW LIFE
by bakaprincess85
Summary: When Renee keeps telling Bella that she's an old soul, she has no idea how right she is. See, Bella really is an old soul. She keeps getting reincarnated everytime her body dies. So, where does Edward come in?
1. INTRO

**SLOW LIFE**

• • • • •

**I - INTRO**

I was thinking that it would be good if I introduced myself, but then I realized that it would be difficult, since even I don't know who I really am. I mean, I know who I am at the moment, but there were so many mes over the time that I'm kind of confused. I bet I'm the only person on this world that has experienced what I had experienced, am experiencing and probably will experience. And now I'm probably totally confusing you, dear reader. I guess I should explain it a bit more.

My current name is Isabella Marie Swan, but I usually go by Bella. My current dad is Charlie Swan and he's the Chief of Police in a small town in Washington state, named Forks. It rains there. A lot. I think there are probably four or five days a year when it's sunny, but I can't say for sure. I haven't lived with him since I was a few months old. My current mum, Renée, divorced him and left with me. We lived in Phoenix, where it was hot and sunny all year long. There was rarely any rain and it never snowed.

You might be wondering why I keep saying current before my parents. You see, I had many parents before I met Charlie and Renée. They are my latest parents, you could say. And no, I was never adopted.

I am a rare kind of a human – my body is mortal and dies rather quickly, while my soul is immortal, and every time my body dies, it is reborn in another body. Sometimes it's a male body, sometimes a female, and I've been reborn as an animal a few times as well. Those were funny times, but it got me to see the world from another perspective, so I didn't whine a lot, since I knew that I would be reborn as soon as I died in that body.

I had many names over the millennia. I don't remember all of them at the moment, but I have a list somewhere in my backpack. Actually, it was more of a notebook and not a list on a paper. And the notebook was almost full.

You could say that I've lived through the history of the planet. From the beginning of the Earth's evolution, until now. The best part in all of this is, that I can remember everything about my previous lives and learn from my mistakes in them and retain the knowledge I've attained.

I still grit my teeth when I watch History Channel on my TV when they get their facts wrong, but I daren't tell them that since they would probably think I'm crazy. Or worse. Being burned at a stake for being a "witch" wasn't funny. At all. It hurt like hell. Being beheaded also isn't one of my favourite ways to die. Or drowning in the middle of Atlantic Ocean. Or being speared by an Indian. I don't like dying, but hey – it's part of the "Circle of Life" as they say in the Lion King cartoon. I have to give the Disney people some credit. They usually get some of their facts right. Haha.

I won't bore you with other names, unless you're interested. You can say so in the review you'll write at the end of this chapter. XD Sorry, had to write this one down before I changed my mind.

Anyway, back to the story.

My mum Renée remarried a few months ago to a guy named Phil Dwyer and he's a baseball player. He's only in minor league, but he still has to travel a lot. That's the main reason that I've decided to move to Forks to live with my dad. My mum stayed at home, but I could see that she missed her husband very much, and – being the loving daughter I am – decided to go live with my dad for a while to give the two a bit of space. It's not that I didn't like Phil. No, Phil's a good guy. I just wanted my mum to be happy and sacrificing herself for me did not make her happy. It didn't make me happy either.

And so I found myself on a plane that took me to Port Angeles airport after promising my mum to call her as soon as I got there.

Dad waited for me at the airport and hugged me shortly. He wasn't one of those people that easily talked about or showed their feelings and I understood that. The ride to Forks was spent in a sort of uncomfortable silence. I mean, I did spend some time with my dad before. I spent two weeks every summer with him since I was a baby. We didn't talk a lot during those times. He was either working or fishing with his friends Harry Clearwater and Billy Black. I didn't complain. I liked being alone.

When we drove to his house, he helped me bring my suitcases up into my room and left me alone. That's the best thing about him. He doesn't hover. If it was Renée, she wouldn't have left me alone for a second. I quickly emptied the suitcase with my clothes and put them into my wardrobe. I quickly organized the rest of the things from my suitcases and lay down on my bed.


	2. I DREAMT OF EDWARD

**II – I DREAMT OF EDWARD**

The dream I had was the dream I have had many times before. It was always the same. Green eyes staring at me full of love, his bronze hair ruffling in the wind as he gazed down at me. The last time I saw them was in 1918 when they closed forever. I waited for him to be reborn, but he wasn't. I never understood what happened on that fateful day. We were always together – Edward and I. His soul was the other half of my soul – we were soul mates. Sure his was about 2000 years younger than mine, but it was still the half of my soul that I've waited to find for so long. It was mine and mine alone.

And now it was gone. I've waited for a hundred years to find him again and I was slowly, but surely losing hope of ever finding him again.

What went wrong this time?

I can't remember how often I've asked myself this question.

He always remembered me when he was reborn. It didn't matter if he was reborn as a male, a female or an animal. We always found each other. It didn't matter if we were a married couple, or if we were siblings, or even each other's children. I was his and he was mine.

The circle kept repeating itself throughout the centuries without breaking. So, what was it that broke it now? It couldn't be that his soul was at the end of the reincarnation cycle. I mean, if I was around since the beginning of time and haven't stopped reincarnating yet, why did he?

That was the biggest mystery and the biggest pain in my heart. I missed him. I missed his crooked smiles and sparkling green eyes. I missed his bronze hair. He always had bronze hair and green eyes, no matter in what shape he was reborn. It was cute, and I always teased him about it.

But the dream that I had wasn't about all the facts up there, it was about the last time I saw him.

He was lying in the hospital bed, soaking wet with fever. I was sitting next to him, holding tightly to his hand and whispering to him. I don't know what I whispered, perhaps it was just nonsense. He was listening to me and occasionally, when he had his lucid moments, he would smile weakly at me and say my name (Leonora). His mother was in another room, also sick with the illness that had spread. His father was already dead by then.

There were many people that died this day, but the most painful death was Edward's. It was midnight when he stopped breathing and it was midnight when my heart broke.

Damn that Spanish Influenza, I cursed in my head as I watched his family's funeral. The three caskets were buried under the moist ground and the mourners were sobbing miserably. Edward and his family were well known and well liked in the city. His mother was the kindest person I have ever met, aside from Edward, and she loved me like I was her own daughter. My father was still alive, but my mother had died during childbirth.

Edward and I were childhood friends in this life and we were always together. We rode our first horses together, we built our own tree house together, and we danced our first dance together. We had just decided to get engaged the next week and he was planning on giving me his current mother's engagement ring.

Why did Fate have to take him away from me? Why wasn't he reborn, like always?

Where was Edward Anthony Masen the second?


	3. BLUESIDE

**III - BLUESIDE**

When I woke up it was already morning and it was supposed to be my first day at my new high school. The dream had left me miserable, like every time I dreamed about Edward. Of course, he had many names in the past, but we always called each other names we had in the latest life until we got to know each other's new names. Silly, I know, but it worked. If we called each other Marc Anthony and Cleopatra for instance, it would be a bit odd, since these names were well known today.

Haha, bet you believed that we were those two. You're wrong. We have been royalty a few times, but never in old Egypt. I was a scribe there at least a dozen times, but usually I was either a slave or a peasant. Edward was the one that had the highest number in being a scribe there (since he liked writing and all that). He's also been an astronomer a few times (he likes gazing up into the stars at night) and a peasant. We've been a pair of basenjis as well. Now, they're funny animals. They are dogs, of course, but they're lazy dogs. Our masters had to carry us to the hunt, because it was too hot for us if we ran and we tired easily.

We were never mummified, luckily.

The alarm brought me back to reality and I quickly turned it off. I was already awake, and I didn't want to wake Charlie if he was still asleep. His room was across the hall from mine and we shared one bathroom.

I quickly dressed into black jeans and a blue turtleneck sweater. It was cold in Forks, so I picked up my silver parka to go with it. That way I wouldn't be cold. I also put a few blank notebooks in my school bag along with a pencil case. I would get my books at the school along with my new schedule. I hoped to whatever deity that listened to me that I wouldn't have Gym. I was an extremely clumsy person – no matter how many times I was reincarnated, this quirk stayed with me. Edward constantly made fun of me because of it. Of course, he had to be perfect all the time. He was graceful and had a talent for so many things, while I was a clumsy and talentless person. Of course, you could say that I could acquire a talent with time, but I always died before I could acquire it and I had to grow up enough to start with it again. But usually I just gave up the talent and tried something else.

The house was empty when I came down the stairs. Dad must have already gone to work. Opening the refrigerator I quickly pulled out a strawberry pop tart and ate it with a cup of cold milk. I never liked warm milk – it made me sick. When I was finished, I put the dishes in the sink and exited the house.

Dad has gotten me an old truck as a homecoming present. It was a reddish Chevy truck and to my immense surprise, I loved it. It was a good car for me, as Charlie had said. It was a car that could be found at the site of an accident unharmed with pieces of the other car surrounding it.

Forks High School wasn't hard to find. It was just off the high road. I parked on one of the empty lots near a building that was named "Front Office" and went inside. The lady there greeted me and after a few minutes of talking about my schedule (sucks to be me, I have Gym today) and how to get to classes. When I exited the building the other lots were already filling out. I was relieved that my truck didn't stand out too much. A shiny silver Volvo was the only car that really stood out.

I followed some of the students into the building where I would have my first subject (English) and after introducing myself to the other students, went to sit in the back. School was always a bit boring to me, since I've been to high school so many times already. I've also been to quite a lot of colleges as well. I've studied literature, history and ancient languages the most, with some psychology, law and medicine thrown in for kicks.

English and Trigonometry (my next class) went swiftly by and soon it was lunchtime.


	4. APOCALYPSE PLEASE

**IV – APOCALYPSE PLEASE**

I saw with my neighbour from Trigonometry at lunch. I vaguely remembered that her name was Jessica. She and her friends (Lauren, Mike, Eric, Tyler and Angela) interrogated me about Phoenix and I answered them the best I could while trying to ignore them in favour of eating my sandwich. They soon became bored with me and left me to eat my lunch at peace. I felt deeply grateful to Angela, who told them to let me eat. I was hungry. Taking a sip of my orange juice I let my eyes flitter around the cafeteria. It was then that I saw them.

They were sitting around one of the tables, their plates untouched. There were five of them. Three men (I could no call them boys – they didn't look it) and two women. The first male was big and muscular. He had dark, curly hair. The female next to him could have easily been a model for a fashion magazine. She had blonde hair and was extremely beautiful. Next to her sat a small, and very thin, female with short and spiked hair. She was conversing with a blond male who was a bit on the lanky side. He seemed the calmest out of the bunch. The last male was less bulky and more boyish then the others. He had bronze coloured hair that reminded me of Edward's locks. He was looking out the window when I looked at him. He seemed bored out of his mind. I would be too if I had to stare at the clouds outside.

But what caught my interest was not how they interacted with each other, but how similar they were. They all had pale skin, deep purple bruises under their golden eyes (I assumed they all had golden eyes, since the bronze haired guy was still staring out the window). But what shook me the most was that they were all so very,... inhumanly beautiful.

"Who are they?" I asked Jessica. She seemed like a gossipy girl. She immediately turned to where I was looking and sniffed.

"They're the Cullens. They don't interact with us much."

I waited for her to continue and she didn't disappoint.

"The big one is Emmett and the blonde girl next to him is Rosalie. The black-haired girl is Alice and the one she's holding hands with is Jasper. Jasper and Rosalie are twins. And the one looking out the window is Edward Cullen."

I gasped silently at the name. In the pit of my stomach butterflies started flying around. Was it just a coincidence that he had the same bronze locks and name as my Edward? I hope it wasn't.

"They're all adopted of course. Dr. Cullen and Mrs. Cullen can't have kids it seems."

I hmmed at her to let her know I was listening as I still stared across the cafeteria at the bronze-haired boy willing him to turn around and look at me with his green eyes. I hoped they were green.

"Don't get your hopes up," Jessica interrupted my staring session. "Edward Cullen doesn't date. Ever since he came to this school two years ago (his family moved down from Alaska) he hasn't dated. It's like none of the girls at the school are good enough for him."

I noticed that Edward Cullen's cheeks lifted a bit, as if he was hiding a smile and I wondered if he could hear what we were talking about. It was then that he turned his head towards Jessica. I felt my stomach drop to my feet.

It was him.

It was Edward.

Oh my God!

I would recognize the face anywhere, even though his eyes were as golden as the rest of his family. It didn't change much, it only became more beautiful, which confused me. How was it possible that he hadn't changed an inch from when I saw him last. His face wasn't weak with fever now, and glowed healthily (if you ignored the pale skin and the bruises under his eyes).

My heart fluttered for a second before it came to a stop as his eyes turned on my face. I held my breath and felt my face redden. One of the things I hated about this body was that it blushed so easily.

It was only a moment, but his eyes moved away from mine in disinterest.

What?

How could he not recognize me? My soul felt fuller than ever before just at the sight of him. His should have done the same. What was wrong with him?

I stared at him for the rest of the lunch break. He never turned to me again, but rather talked to his family quietly. I felt my insides crumble as the realization broke through.

He did not recognize me.

He did not remember me.

Oh God.

What do I do now?

I felt my eyes tear up and my heart started to hurt. It was hard to breathe.

Then he looked at me again, frustration in his eyes. It was like I hadn't met some expectation of his when he frowned at me, getting more frustrated by the second. I pulled my eyes from his face and looked down at my mangled sandwich, my appetite suddenly gone.


	5. DONE ALL WRONG

**V – DONE ALL WRONG**

I couldn't wait for lunchtime to finish so that I could escape to my next class. I walked with Mike (he had Biology II as well) to our classroom. I sighed at his puppy-like expression as he followed me inside. My insides froze again as I saw that Edward was in this class as well. I turned my head towards the professor as his gaze slid on me again. I could feel my cheeks redden again. I quickly gave my slip to professor Banner (luckily he didn't demand of me to introduce myself like the Trig teacher did) and looked around to see if there were any free spaces.

I cursed and blessed my luck as I noticed that the only seat left was right next to Edward. I blessed my luck because I was able to sit next to him, and I cursed because Edward was glaring at me as if he hated me. I gulped nervously as I sat down next to him. He immediately moved as far away from me as possible, his face morphed into disgust as if something smelly just sat next to him. I stared at him incredulously.

"Do I smell or something?" I asked him with a scowl. Edward blinked at me and shook his head.

"Then what the hell is your problem?"

I didn't care if I was rude, hell – he was rude to me first, and I felt really hurt that he didn't recognize me, remember me. My whole body hurt like hell because his soul rejected mine. I could feel my soul battering against his, but his didn't move an inch. Usually our souls merged immediately when we set our eyes on each other. I shook my head and circled my hands around my stomach and glared down at the desk.

Mr Banner either ignored my loud voice or he decided it was safer to ignore it. I noticed that he seemed to avoid our desk as much as possible as he walked between the desks explaining something about something. I didn't know what since I wasn't listening to him.

I glanced at Edward again. He still didn't move an inch, but had his eyes closed as if he was suffering from a bad headache. His hands were fisted and it almost seemed as if he was shaking slightly. I started wondering if something else was wrong with him (if it wasn't my smell that disturbed him). I discreetly sniffed my hair. Nope, it smelled of strawberry, my favourite shampoo.

I decided to let my anger go and whispered,

"Sorry for snapping at you. It's just that it's my first day and I'm really nervous."

That should do as an excuse. I really was sorry, but I wasn't nervous. I'd done high school a million times so I was used to either being a new student or the shiny new toy that everyone wanted to play with.

"It's alright," he mumbled at me, with his eyes still closed.

"Are you alright?" I asked him. "If it isn't me that has you so tense."

There was a brief moment of silence and then he opened his eyes and looked at me.

"I probably ate something that didn't agree with me at lunch."

He lied, since I saw that he didn't touch his food. But I was prepared to let it go and let him lie. I lied too, after all.

"Why don't you go to the nurse's office then and lay down a little?" I said, but before he answered me, the bell that indicated that the class was over rang and he was out of his seat and out of the classroom before I could blink.

I blinked at the empty space next to me and wondered what the hell happened. There was no way that the speed he used to escaped from the classroom was human. I frowned at the little fact that he was different. I mentally started a checklist to see what was different from the usual Edward.

_1. His eyes are golden brown – not green  
2. He is more beautiful than before  
3. He is paler than before  
4. He doesn't remember/recognize me  
5. His soul rejects mine  
6. He is inhumanly fast_

I was sure that the checklist would get more numbers as the days went on. There was something seriously wrong with Edward. I had no idea what, but I would find out and hell hath no fury than a woman scorned when I found out what the hell was wrong with him. Someone's going to get hurt when I found out who changed my Edward. I didn't care if God himself was the one that did it. They were going to pay.


	6. FRIENDS

**VI - FRIENDS**

Edward didn't show up in school for the rest of the week and I began to suspect that he either a) ditched school to avoid me, b) was actually sick enough to stay at home, or c) there was something other than the above possibilities going on. I couldn't think of what though, so I suffered in silence as the week dragged on.

There was one highlight though. I kind of spoke to Alice Cullen, Edward's sister and she was nice to me. She was very bubbly and hyper and would jump around like she was dancing. She was very graceful and I felt envious of that. How I wish this body wasn't this clumsy. My classmates at Gym already knew to avoid me when I was on my "warpath" so luckily, I was the only one that got injured. I managed to hit the ball back on my face when playing volleyball and I still had a bruise to prove it.

When Monday came I was skittish again. I had Biology today and I wondered if Edward was going to come to school or not.

When I came to the parking lot, the shiny silver Volvo was parked there and all five of the Cullens were stationed around it. I ignored their stares as I moved towards school as quickly as possible, my stomach full of butterflies.

He was here. I ducked my head when I entered the school, trying to hide my red face and hoping that no one would hear my heart (it was beating pretty fast and loudly).

Somehow, I managed to survive until lunchtime and sat down at my, now, usual table. I sat together with the people that I met on my first day: Lauren, Jessica, Mike, Eric, Tyler and Angela. Angela was the nicest of the lot and Lauren the rudest. Mike was still following me around like a golden retriever and it was slowly getting on my nerves.

After totally mangling my croissant to pieces and flittering about with my Coke until it got warm enough to not be drinkable anymore, lunch finished and I started walking towards the Biology classroom.

My stomach was in knots when I stopped in front of the classroom doors.

Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I opened the doors and as quickly as possible sat down in my chair. I was the first one there. I was too nervous to sit still, so I prepared myself for the class. I was just re-reading my notes from previous week when I heard the chair next to mine slide on the floor a bit.

I knew immediately that Edward came. I stilled for a microsecond, before turning towards him, holding my breath.

"Hello. I didn't get a chance to introduce myself last week. My name is Edward Cullen," he said before I got a chance to open my mouth.

I blinked at him in surprise. His voice was melodic and beautiful. It could lull me to sleep if he wanted it to. It could send my body in haywire with its sensuality if he wanted it to. His voice was a bit different from the last time I heard it, but the way he was talking, it was like the way he talked when I saw him last.

Not wanting him to misinterpret the silence, I took a breath and replied,

"And I'm Bella Swan. I'm sorry about last week. I was on edge because of all that first day at school business."

He gave me a small smile in return, so I knew that I was forgiven. I felt my insides calm down a bit and asked him,

"Are you alright now? Only you looked like you would be sick last week."

"Yes, I feel better now. It was just food poisoning."

I nodded. I knew how bad those could get. Though, I still didn't believe him one hundred percent. It was just too easy to lie about that. But as I didn't want the truce between us to come to an end, I let it go. For now.

"Hey, did you get contacts?" I blurted out as I looked into his golden eyes. I remembered that his eyes were coal black in Biology last week.

"What? No," he said confused.

"Because I'd swear they were black last week," I insisted. He got a bit uncomfortable as he gazed at me. There was a silence for a moment, before he said,

"No, it's just the fluorescents."

I sighed and nodded.

The rest of the class was spent doing practical work with onion roots and we chatted amiably until the class ended. Then he left the classroom as soon as possible. Again, with that inhuman speed. I wondered what was wrong with him, but decided to not pursue the matter. I was still optimistic. We managed to talk today without him glaring at me or looking like something smelled badly.

So, that made us friends of sorts, right?


	7. NEVER THINK

**VII – NEVER THINK**

Next day it was snowing. I didn't mind the snow as much as I loathed the ice. It didn't really help the uncoordinated. It was proven the moment I stepped out of house, because I slipped on a thin layer of ice just before my truck. Luckily I didn't break anything. I had enough broken bones to last me a lifetime... ha-ha, lifetime! Get it?

I slowly and carefully drove to school, keeping my eyes and thoughts strictly on the road in front of me. I did _not_ want to cause an accident. I was surprised that my car didn't slip when I was driving, but I saw the reason why the moment I stepped out of it on the parking lot. Charlie, god bless his soul, had installed snow chains on my tires. He was definitively on my top 10 best dads list.

Suddenly I felt someone's eyes on me and when I looked up, I saw Edward and his family looking at me with horror in their eyes from where they were standing next to their car across the lot. I blinked confused, but then I understood. It happened in a second – a van skidded across the parking lot (the driver obviously having lost control over it) towards my car, I closed my eyes as I couldn't bear to watch myself die, and hard hands pushed me away. I hit my head on the concrete and had to breathe deeply for a few seconds to get the stars away from my eyes. When I opened them, there was a sudden silence all around me -well, there was shrieking and panicking heard in the background, but I wasn't concentrated on that since I was lost in Edward's golden eyes full of panic.

"Are you alright?" he asked me quickly when he saw that I've opened my eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine," I answered, suddenly realizing that he was here. And he shouldn't be. He was across the lot last I saw him.

"How-?" I stammered. "How did you get over here so fast?"

His whole body stilled as he answered me, "What are you talking about Bella? I was standing right next to you."

I rolled my eyes at him. I know what I saw.

"Look, I don't care if you're Superman or Spiderman, but I know what I saw."

"You must have hit your head pretty hard," was all he said as he released me to the medical team that had arrived on the scene while we were talking. Urgh! I could strangle him for leaving me like that. I scowled at him instead and yelled at him from the ambulance,

"I haven't finished talking to you yet, Edward Cullen!"

The doors of the ambulance banged close before I could head his answer. I swear I heard him laughing at me from the back of the car though. I gritted my teeth and swore I'd lynch him the next time I saw him.

I didn't see him at the emergency room where they let me wait for the doctor. Tyler (the kid that drove the car that almost killed me) kept apologizing until I had enough of it.

"Would you stop apologizing already?" I shrieked at him after his thirtieth apology – and just my luck, the doors opened and one of the most beautiful doctors I've ever seen walked in, accompanied by my dad. It had to be Dr. Cullen. I didn't see his face yet, since he was talking quietly with my dad.

When he turned my head to me though, I recognized his face. And I knew immediately that he had something to do with why Edward didn't remember me.

"You!" I shrieked at him, enraged. Both men blinked at me in confusion (my face was probably all red from anger and my fists were clenched together to stop myself from jumping off the bed and killing the doctor with my bare hands).

"What the hell did you do to Edward? I know it was you! You were there when he died in my arms! What the hell did you do to him?"

I didn't care about being in the hospital room full of people that could hear me rant. All I wanted was to kill the doctor that took my Edward away from me. All I wanted was the truth about what happened.

And I swear to god, if I have to torture him, I will get the truth out of him.


	8. HURRICANE BELLS

**VIII – HURRICANE BELLS**

From the expression in his eyes I knew that he had no idea what I was talking about. No one in the room did. Of course, a hundred years have passed since we saw each other and he hadn't changed. He still looked as young and beautiful as he did on the day I met him for the first time. It was a day that was ingrained in my brain for the rest of eternity. Every time Edward died was ingrained in it, but this one was still very fresh – as it was the last time I saw him. We were never more than a few months or years apart from each other. It was never more than forty years though.

I scowled at him, waiting for his answer. In reality, I knew that I probably won't receive one in a room full of people that had no idea what was going on, but I still wanted to hear what he had to say. I'd corner him sometime later, I swore to myself.

"Bella!"

It was Charlie that reacted first, as he started scolding me for my behaviour and apologizing to the doctor at the same time. I just kept my mouth shut in fear of letting my temper get away from me. I crossed my hands over my chest, showing my annoyance to the world as I glared at Dr. Cullen.

"It's alright, Charlie," he finally said. GOD, even his voice didn't change. It still had that melodic and soft tone that he used when he told me that Edward died. I felt my eyes start to tear up at the memory, but I pushed them away and just stared at him, waiting for what was coming next.

"She hit her head pretty hard from what Edward told me, so she's probably still confused."

I'll give him confused. I opened my mouth to start telling him exactly why I was confused, but he hurried on,

"I've actually come to let you know that we're going to scan your head to see if there was any damage from the fall, and some x-rays to see if there's anything broken, but other than that – if the results are okay – you're free to go home and rest for the day."

I wanted to snarl at him, to gnaw at him until there was nothing but bones left, but I couldn't muster up the courage to do that in front of everyone, so I let them take me to get my head scanned and to get x-rayed. I knew that there was nothing wrong with me, so he must have done that to get out of the uncomfortable situation that I've put him in.

Good. He should think about what happened. Maybe he'll even remember me if he put his brain to work.

Charlie was still scolding me after I was finished getting my exams done and I finally had enough. I love Charlie, don't think that I don't, I just wasn't used to him scolding me like this.

"Dad, please – there's more to my anger at Dr. Cullen than you're aware of. Let me be. I have my reasons."

Charlie scowled at me for a moment, but stopped scolding me. Instead he told me to wait for him to get my release papers. I watched him go as I leaned against the wall. It was then that I heard his voice.

"What was I supposed to do? Let the car kill her?"

It was Edward of course. I didn't want them to notice me so I took a small pocket mirror out of my jacket pocket and opened it so that I could watch what was going on without being noticed.

"What if you exposed us?" the blonde girl (Rosalie) asked him angrily.

"She already knows too much as it is," she continued in the same angry tone. I had no idea what they were talking about. But I knew that it was critical information on what the hell was going on.

"Rose, calm down," said Dr. Cullen in a soothing voice. "I'm sure that Edward had his reasons for doing so."

There was a pause, and then he continued,

"Though, I have to admit that I'm a bit confused. I've never seen the girl before and she acted as if she knew me. She talked about that night in 1918, Edward."

Edward grew still and his golden eyes narrowed. He must have started thinking about what Dr. Cullen said. My mind was also whirling around. The words 1918 and exposed were in the front. I knew from the moment I saw the Cullens that they weren't normal humans, but from what I've heard it seemed as if they weren't human at all. I let some of the facts that I've managed to obtain about them trickle into my brain. They were inhumanly beautiful. It seemed as if they could hear things from a distance (that moment in the cafeteria when Edward smiled at something Jessica said), Alice was talking about knowing that we would be great friends the other day as if she really knew that it was going to come true (was she psychic or something?), the way that neither Edward nor Dr. Cullen seemed to change much from that night,... There was something going on that I didn't know about.

And I swore to myself that I will find out what was going on, even if it killed me.

Edward was still thinking about what Dr. Cullen said and I decided to let them know of my presence. I also decided to give them a clue as to what was going on. I thought that it was fair enough. Even though I was murderously angry at Dr. Cullen, I wanted him to know exactly _why_ I was angry at him.

"Does the name Leonora Vandervelt ring a bell, Dr. Cullen?" I asked him as I stepped around the corner to face them head on.

Their faces snapped towards me. Two pairs of golden eyes looked shocked while one pair started glowing in recognition. Of the name, I hoped, since I clearly remember that I've introduced myself to Dr. Cullen when I first met him (he was Edward's doctor).

"I have to admit that it does ring a bell, Miss Swan," he said in a cautious tone. Edward and Rosalie were quiet as they stared at me.


	9. DECODE

**IX - DECODE**

"Call me Bella," I replied with a fake cheerful voice. "Or Leonora, whatever. I'm still waiting for an explanation, you see. And since I overheard you talking about _that night_, I figured that you did remember something, and I wanted to know what it was that you remembered. Perhaps you remembered that you told me that Edward had died, that you told me how sorry you were for the loss of my fiancée, that you left me in the room alone with him for fifteen minutes before you took him away,..."

I wanted to continue talking but my voice clogged up from the tears that finally started dripping down my cheeks. I stopped walking and angrily brushed them away.

"Actually," I said, "I'm not even angry with you anymore. I just want to know why you lied to me and what you did to Edward. He doesn't even remember me anymore."

I figured that since they had their secret and I had mine, that I would be honest enough and tell them the secret to their faces. Perhaps they would tell me theirs so that I would understand what the hell was going on.

"And I haven't seen him since then and I was worried about that, since we always found each other in the past."

"What do you mean we always found each other?" Edward asked me with a surprised voice. I sighed and looked at him.

"Have you ever heard of the word reincarnation?"

Dr Cullen's eyes started shining as he finally comprehended what was going on.

"Yes," I helped him, "Me and Edward reincarnate when we die. We keep our memories and we find each other every time we are reborn. It's been going on since the beginning of Earth. Of course, Edward's soul is younger than mine for about two thousand years, but it's still older than any of the other creatures on this planet. Mine is the first soul."

Dr Cullen looked at Edward then with a look in his eyes that I thought meant to say 'see, I told you you have a soul'. You might wonder why I seemed to understand what he was saying with his eyes - it's really simple. I've been around people for as long as they existed, of course I learned how to read their bodies. Of course, it was difficult to read the Cullens, since they seemed to not be humans and had different reactions. But with every minute I was in their company, it got easier.

Edward didn't seem to agree with what Dr. Cullen was telling him with his eyes.

"Yes, you do have a soul," I said aloud and watched them with amusement as they turned their attention back on me. I wondered what they were thinking. They were probably surprised that I could interpret the silence and facial expressions so well.

"Can you read our minds?" Dr. Cullen asked me curiously before Edward could interrupt (I saw him open his mouth to say something). I shook my head.

"Nope, but I've been around long enough to be able to read people and their expressions."

I turned to Edward and repeated what I said before,

"Before you say you don't have a soul, I can assure you that you do. I can feel it inside you. It hasn't accepted my soul yet, but it's there."

I had to stop myself from pointing my tongue at him and telling him, 'so there'. It probably wouldn't go over well.

Edward was quiet after that. It seemed as if I have given him a lot to think about. Instead I conversed with Dr. Cullen a bit more, answering his questions about my reincarnating ability, with Rosalie watching us. When Dr. Cullen said that my dad was coming for me, I looked behind myself, but didn't see Charlie yet.

"You have to tell me how you know that. I mean, I've told you my secret, so I think it's only fair that you tell me yours," I replied with a shrug. Dr. Cullen was quiet for a few moments as he looked over toward Edward and Rosalie, before nodding.

We agreed that I would come over to his house this weekend so that we could talk some more.


	10. STAB MY BACK

**X – STAB MY BACK**

Unfortunately, seeing as it was Tuesday, the weekend seemed a long way still. I had to go to school the next day and suffer the continuing annoyance that was Tyler. He still didn't grasp that I had forgiven him the moment he said sorry. He kept apologizing and following me around. I sighed. What did I ever to to whomever it was up there that they tormented me so. After the fiftieth apology, I snapped. It must have been the nerves and the tension about what was going to happen that weekend - I normally never snapped at people (unless I was under pressure).

"Haven't I told you to stop apologizing? I'm fine!"

After that, he only apologized every half-hour. I sighed again. I guess I'll just have to live with it. Another downside of what happened yesterday was that Edward was ignoring me.

Again.

Great. Just great.

I was annoyed at him too. I mean, we talked yesterday in Biology a bit and now we were back to square one. It seemed as if we moved one step forward, two steps back. He sat with his family at lunch, but didn't look at me once. It was like I didn't exist. It hurt, and I was annoyed. Oh, wait. I already said that. I watched them as they talked to each other and when they started to clean up after themselves, I started whispering. I knew they would hear me somehow.

"You know, if you ignore the problem, it won't go away. People usually confront their problems and solve them. But you're just running away. You weren't such a coward back then. You were dreaming about becoming a soldier and winning medals for bravery and honour-"

Of course, he was gone by the time I reached the word honour. The rest of his family looked at me with amused looks. I scowled at them and said a little louder so that he could DEFINITIVELY hear me,

"Just like you're running away now!"

I swear I heard a snort coming from Alice, but it was overshadowed by a booming laugh coming from the big guy's - Emmett's - direction. "I like her already, she's got balls," I heard him say and I couldn't help but grin in his direction as I went to my next class.

The rest of the week followed in the same direction. Edward was steadily ignoring me. It hurt like hell, but I held hope that once the weekend was over and all the questions were answered and all explanations heard that he would talk to me again. If not, I'll have to do something about it because I couldn't live with him ignoring me. It hurt. My soul hurt because of the rejection of his soul.

One thing changed though - his siblings talked to me.

Alice was a very hyper and bubbly person that was obsessed with shopping and I was sure that if we became friends that I would become her Bella Barbie. Rosalie is rather cool towards me, but I'm sure that in time she'll warm up to me. Emmett was just a big teddy bear and I could already see him acting as my big brother in the future (if Edward got his balls back, of course). Jasper was the opposite of Alice – he was calm and quiet and seemed to be in pain. I had no idea why, but I'll probably be told about it this weekend.


	11. DINNER WITH HIS FAMILY

**Author's Note:** I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! Anyway, I've updated now and as you can see changed some chapters' names - they correspond with Twilight music now. Some are from Stephenie Meyer's playlists as well! Hope you like this chapter!

**XI – DINNER WITH HIS FAMILY**

I sighed as I gazed at the big house in front of me.

I've been doing that for ten minutes now and gathering my courage to step out of my truck. So far, it wasn't working. _When did I become such a coward?_ I asked myself.

Finally, I sighed and got out. It would do me no good to sit in here and feel sorry for myself, I decided. I had to gather what 'balls' I had, according to Emmett, and get this over with. I needed to find the spunk I showed when I screamed at Dr. Cullen in the hospital.

Closing my eyes, I took a big breath and knocked on the door. It opened before I could knock on them and Alice was there, watching me with annoyance in her eyes.

"What took you so long?" she asked with a twitch of her eyebrows. I knew that she knew what took me so long. I had a theory, you see. Instead of replying, I rolled my eyes at her and moved past her into the house.

It. Was. Huge!

The whole level was one big white room. It was also very light – the house had huge windows.

"Wow," I whispered as I looked around.

"Esme designed and decorated it," Alice piped up from behind me. I wondered who Esme was.

"Esme is Carlisle's wife and our mum," Alice said before I could form a question. Another point went to my theory. And another question.

"They're waiting for us in the kitchen. Carlisle thought we shouldn't overwhelm you and I volunteered to greet you."

I didn't doubt her. She was a very nice person and well on her way of becoming my friend.

"Thanks," was all I said as I followed her dancing steps around a platform with a grand piano. It reminded me of Edward and his love of music. I wondered if he still played the Piano or if it was someone else in his family that did so.

The kitchen was designed in warm colours and was very modern. At first, I was so concentrated on the design that I failed to notice the people in it. I blushed when I remembered that I wasn't alone in the room.

"You have a beautiful house," I said, trying to recover my dignity which was shot to hell when Emmett Cullen started laughing at me. A beautiful woman with caramel coloured hair shot him a look and he quietened down.

I was the one that chuckled now and the tension in the room dispersed. I was unaware of how tense everyone was until that moment.

"Thank you, miss Swan," Esme said with a warm smile on her face and for some reason she reminded me of Snow White and her seven dwarves. Of course, no one looked like a dwarf, but you get my meaning.

"Call me Bella," I said with a warm smile of my own. "Everyone does."

"We're making Italian for you," she continued and for the first time I noticed Dr. Cullen cutting up onions behind her with an easy grin on his face. He winked at me and I chuckled.

"Thanks! I love Italian," I said, still chuckling at the domestic scene. Then I thought about what she said about making the food for me. Did they not eat? But I already noticed that. I wondered what they did eat then, but figured that I shouldn't bombard them with questions just now.

"Hey, Bella!" Emmett boomed. "Do you know how to play video games?"

I turned my head to him and noticed that Jasper and Rosalie were behind him. Jasper had the usual look of pain on his face and stood a bit further away than the others, while Rosalie had a blank expression on hers. She still didn't like me.

I didn't notice Edward anywhere in the room. I wanted to pout, but decided no to let it bother me too much.

"Do _you_ know how to play them without breaking a controller?" I asked him with a devilish grin. He looked very strong and muscular. I laughed when he pouted at me like a big child. Everyone, even Rosalie, let out a chuckle.

"I can so!" he replied childishly.

"Then bring it!" I cracked my knuckles. Without a word, he quickly ushered me to the living room where a huge plasma television was, and around it every game station that was available. He quickly turned the PS2 on and handed me one of the controllers.

The only reason I knew how to play video games was because I was childhood friends with some boys from the Quileute reservation in La Push – they taught me everything they knew.

And I used every bit of that knowledge in playing against Emmett. I saw that he had no real strategies. He went for the kill. I smirked to myself and nonchalantly pressed one of the buttons. An explosion was seen on the screen and Emmett's side of it read GAME OVER.

The silence after that was a bit uncomfortable – until I saw that the Cullens had followed us out to the living room and were now staring at me. Emmett was staring at me too.

"What?" I asked with a mischievous smirk. "Is it the fact that a girl kicked your ass or is it the fact that said girl knows how to _really_ play video games."

"No," was Jasper's response as he started snickering. "It's just that you're the first one to beat Emmett in his games."

"Oh, well – it wasn't that hard," I snickered back at him. Emmett was still pouting half an hour later as I was finishing my dinner. The Cullens were sat around the oval dining table watching me eat. I thought I saw some of them grimace as they watched me and I wondered why that was.

Once I was finished, I put the napkin down and looked them in their golden eyes.

"Thank you for the wonderful dinner," I said with a small blush on my face. I cleared my throat and continued, "Now, I know you're all extremely curious about what I said to Dr. Cullen on Tuesday."

I saw Jasper nod from the corner of my eye, while Alice said, "Yes, he did tell us about that."

"Okay," I continued. "But I want Edward to be here as well. Because, honestly, I'm becoming rather insulted by his avoidance. Or is there some kind of a problem?"

Esme and Dr. Cullen looked at each other, then at me, and Esme said with a gentle voice, "Of course there's nothing wrong. He's just very confused at the moment."

I nodded and watched as Esme started cleaning up the dishes and Dr. Cullen pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and speed-dialled a number. I suppose that he called Edward.

I offered my help to Esme, but she just smiled and sent me to the living room, where Emmett demanded a rematch, while we waited for Edward to come home.


	12. THERE'S A VAMPIRE!

**XII – THERE'S A VAMPIRE!**

It took all of five minutes for me to kick Emmett's ass again.

"Where did you learn how to play like this!" Emmett demanded to know. I only smirked at him and pretended to blow on my nails and then polish them on my shoulder. Jasper snickered again. He had relaxed quite a bit while we were all sitting in the living room waiting for the last member of the Cullen family to join us.

Carlisle said he went for a run before I came. Carlisle also insisted I call him Carlisle instead of Dr. Cullen.

I could actually get used to Edward's family if and when they decided to explain themselves to me. I could actually see myself as the little sister of Emmett and Jasper and having girl times with Alice and Rosalie (if _she_ ever relaxed). And even though I loved my parents, it was always me that took care of them. Here, Esme insisted on doing everything and the love she felt for her children and husband was radiating from her.

I also noticed some new things about the Cullens that I hadn't noticed in school. One time Alice fell in a daze and Jasper was immediately by her side, hugging her. This got another point to my Alice Theory. Also, Emmett got really agitated once (I had him beat for the fifth time) and suddenly calmed down after Jasper glanced at him.

This was getting interesting.

A door slamming brought me out of my thinking and just as Edward stepped in the room, I pressed another button and Emmett's part of the screen once again said GAME OVER. I put my controller down and looked at Edward.

He looked terrible. He was still beautiful, but his eyes were really black and he had huge bruises under them. It looked like he hadn't slept in ages.

There was silence while Edward just looked around the room at us. Once again, it was Emmett who broke the tension.

"Damn it, Bella! Tell me!" he started whining. Edward's eyes turned on me then and I felt my heart stutter.

"That's for me to know and you to... probably never... find out," I managed to say without looking away from Edward's eyes. Emmett huffed and puffed and looked mightily put out with me. He was probably hoping that I would be distracted enough to slip up.

While I was replying to Emmett's huffs, Edward sat himself in an armchair the furthest from me. I felt a stab of hurt and saw Jasper glance at me again, curiosity clear on his face.

"Okay, so – as I said on Tuesday," I started once everyone's eyes were on me again.

"Well, not said, more like snarked," I added and saw Carlisle's lips twitch.

"When I met Carlisle, my name was Leonora Vandervelt and I was sixteen years old..."

I spent the next fifteen minutes telling the story of my previous life, and then another half hour answering Carlisle's questions about reincarnation and my other lives. And I could swear that if he wasn't such a calm person that he would be bouncing in his seat when he questioned me.

Alice giggled suddenly and I turned to her.

"So," I said. "Alice, what did you see?"

Silence reigned in the room again. Then Emmett started laughing. Alice looked over at Edward and then Emmett and lastly on me. Then she grinned and replied,

"You were imagining Carlisle bouncing in his seat."

"Yeah, I was. He's a really curious person, isn't he?" I retorted with a grin myself.

Emmett spent the next few minutes guffawing.

"So, you can see the future?" I asked Alice, then turned to Jasper, "and you can feel and temper with the emotions of other people or something."

Jasper froze in his place next to Alice.

"I haven't seen a vampire in a long time," I added into a silent room. "Especially one with golden eyes. You don't feet on human blood, do you?"

Carlisle shook his head and proceeded to tell me his reasons on why they didn't feed on humans but on animals. I nodded in understanding.

"How can you sit there, all calm, and discuss about us being vampires, like it's an everyday topic of conversation," Edward suddenly burst out. He hadn't said anything since he came back and I almost forgot that he was in the room. I say, almost, because I'm always aware of him.

"Because I've met vampires in my past lives. Though they were nothing like you," I said calmly.

"One or two even killed me. I only took this long to figure out what you were because of your eyes and the fact that you go to a high school. But then I put together all the clues I noticed and put two and two together and got four."

My body was suddenly flung over someone's shoulder and we went barrelling out of the house and into the forest.


	13. MEXICAN STANDOFF

**XIII – MEXICAN STANDOFF**

"Damn it, Edward, what the hell's wrong with you?" I shouted at him as soon as he finally set me on the ground. "You don't just grab a person and lug them out to the middle of nowhere!"

Edward didn't respond, but kept staring at me from a short distance away with hands on his hips. I swear if this was a scene from a film, it would be a Western. Me and him standing facing each other with hands on our hips. The only props that were missing were guns and the clock ticking in the distance that counted down seconds before we were to shoot each other.

This made me start to snicker. I probably looked like a maniac, standing there and laughing my ass of, where moments before I was spitting nails from anger.

"Would you stop laughing already," Edward finally said, sounding completely unamused. Damn! He lost his sense of humour too. Now I had to help him find it again.

"Sorry," I apologized when I made myself stop laughing. "It's just the image in my head of how this scene looks was pretty hilarious."

I saw him grimace at that and wondered why that was. Did he have a gift as well? If so, what was his gift?

"So, would you tell me the reason you grabbed me and brought me here?" I asked, while looking around myself. We were in the middle of a circular meadow. There was something beautiful and mystical about it. The wild-flowers shone in the moonlight and the soft wind made the leaves give out a morose sound.

I lost myself as I looked around myself. "It's beautiful here."

"It's okay," Edward said quietly. I turned my face to his and saw that he wasn't watching the meadow like I was, but instead he was watching me. My heart started stuttering again and I felt hope fill me. His eyes were back to their usual butterscotch and the bruises were lighter. It wasn't the colour of his eyes that shook me though. It was the emotions in them that made me stop breathing.

"Edward," I whispered as I made my way to him. He stayed silent as he watched me.

I stopped in front of him and looked him in the eyes again.

"Edward," I whispered again as he slowly extended his arms and put them around my waist, bringing me closer to him. I felt my lower lip start trembling as he lowered his head to my shoulder and hugged me closer to him. I couldn't stop myself from bringing my arms around his torso and hug him back. I closed my eyes and sighed as I felt my soul finally merge with his.

"Leonora," I heard him whisper back. My breath stopped and tears started falling.

"I'm sorry that I forgot about you," he continued whispering. "Will you ever be able to forgive me?"

I started sobbing in relief and felt him pepper my face with kisses.

"Oh, Edward," I sighed as he kissed my eyelids. "I hoped and hoped you'd remember me! I was so worried..."

My words were cut as his lips softly brushed mine. I fell for him all over again.

"I'm sorry," he apologized again and again as he kissed my lips over and over.


	14. LULLABY,,, GOODNIGHT, MY ANGEL

**XIV – LULLABY (GOODNIGHT, MY ANGEL)**

"I thought I lost you forever, and I guess my mind just blocked you out. I felt that because I became a vampire I lost my soul and that I'd never find you again because of that. I felt like I didn't deserve you any longer," Edward explained a few hours later as we cuddled in my bed. Edward didn't want me to be cold, so he thought that he could lay on my blankets, but I shot that idiotic idea down and brought out my electric blanket and pugged it in. It kept both of us toasty warm and Edward's skin was almost as warm as if he were a human again.

I sighed as his explanation and kissed his shoulder.

"As long as I found you again, I'm happy," I replied softly. I smiled as I felt his lips on my head.

"Though, I have to admit I'm curious about how you remembered me?" I whispered.

He was quiet for a while, and I let him gather his thoughts.

"I think that I started to remember you when you mentioned your previous name," he admitted, "but I was afraid to get my hopes up. What if it was just a dream that I was dreaming, even though I can't sleep any more? What if I blinked and you were gone in just that millisecond?"

There was another short silence.

"When I avoided you for the next week, it was because I was still frightened. But when I came home tonight and you told us your story, it all clicked. I froze and couldn't keep my eyes from you. I finally realized it wasn't a dream. It was true. You came back to me. Your soul found mine, even though I thought I lost it. In that moment, my mind went into overload. I thought about everything I started believing in after Carlisle changed me and my whole world changed. For a few moments I lost my reason when I remembered how I lost you to those vampires and I got angry at you – for no reason – I mean, how couldn't you be afraid of vampires after that gruesome experience?"

I was quiet as he tried to find words to explain himself more. I raised myself on my elbows and looked Edward in his eyes.

"I could never be frightened of you. You are my other half, my everything. The only thing I'm frightened of is losing you again. Don't ever do that to me again, you hear me?"

I poked his chest with those last words and let my tears fall down my cheeks again.

"I promise," he whispered as he pulled me closer to him. Then he started humming my lullaby. He had composed this piece of music eons ago. It still soothed me.

"I missed you," I replied as I closed my eyes.

"I missed you too," he smiled through the humming.

"I'll kill you myself if you ever forget me again," I mumbled as I felt sleep overcome me.

"And I don't doubt that, my angel," I heard him say before I went under.

**THE END!**


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